Rune Factory 3: Summer Storms
by Winter's ice
Summary: Oh how the weather is deceitful. One minute it was all bright and sunny, and then the next it's a downpour. During this Micah finds himself stuck inside his monster shed with nothing to do except to watch the rain. To his surprise, he happens to see Karina walking around and he tells her to come inside. And so, what do they talk about in there? Well, their feelings of course!


**I got this idea while replaying the game, so I decided to listen to the plot bunnies and write it. I was planning on finishing this months ago during the summer tine but I ended up getting writers block towards the end…Anyhow, now that it's finally finished, like six months later, I hope you enjoy it!**

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**Date Published: 12/31/13  
Word Count: 8,196  
Page Count: 12**

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**Summer Storms**

During the summers, weather was on thing that no one could ever predict, even if you were a meteorologist. One minute, the sun was out and the demonic heat was tormenting the residents of the planet. The next minute the sun runs away to hide, as dark rain clouds began to invade like an army on the attack. Most of the time the attacks where small with just rain falling lightly with bits of thunder that kept most people inside their homes. Other times though, those attacks are much worse and every thing ends up being miserable.

This was one of those terrible days where the weather went from bright and humid to rainy and gloomy. Micah, a young man with blond hair, blue eyes and a rather girlish face was currently stuck inside his monster shed. He was sitting on the cold earth floor with his legs crossed, and his elbows resting on his knees. He was watching the rain from the open wooden door with a bored expression. The rain was falling quickly; much like empty calibers falling from a machine gun. All the while the wind was swooshing it all around as if it was a salad. Just moments ago it seemed like a typical too hot for its own good day. In just a matter of moments the clouds came in with a crack of ear shattering thunder and rain began to pour. The weather is truly deceitful; making you believe it would be a clear day one-minute but ends up raining with the world laughing at the people for their stupidity.

"Bah. Bah, bah," was the sound that Micah heard emitting from behind of him. He turned his head around and smiled softy at the creature he saw. Walking cutely towards him was a rather small fluffy creature that continued to bah in a low tone. It was one the few woolies he kept inside of the shed. When the monster was closer to him he stretched his arm out and petted the fluffy wooly behind its ear. The wooly emitted the same sound as before and closed its little eyes, enjoying the attention he was being given.

"Guess I'm stuck here for awhile huh?" he said softly while petting his little pet monster Fluff. This wooly was much smaller compared to the other ones that he has, so he assumed it was younger. This might also explain why he was so clingy to Micah.

His eyes started to roam around the monster shed and saw the various doors with different crops printed on them. His monster shed was like an apartment complex; in each room was a collection of different monsters. Where he was sitting was like a lounge, or a common room, though it wouldn't pass as a great one. Inside the room was earth of course, wood, a table and his monster book. There are also two newly added poles placed on the right side of the room past the last door. The two poles were connected with heavy-duty wire that had a large peach colored towel hanging on it.

The towel was there to use on any of his monsters that ended up being drenched from traveling with him or if they decided to wander around his farm. The smell of wet monsters was definitely something he didn't want spreading throughout the barn nor lingering for a long time. He had unfortunately suffered through that once, and it's something he didn't want to repeat. It took a few days with keeping the doors open to get that horrific smell gone. Just the thought of it happening again made him shudder.

"Bah, bah, bah!" he heard the wooly go when thunder clasped as loud as a gigantic cannon being fired. Fluff trotted even closer to Micah, hiding his face into his side. Micah looked down while a soft smile crossed over his face and spoke in a gentle tone, "It's alright Fluff, the thunder won't hurt you."

This is actually one of the reasons why he didn't walk into his house to suffer in the comfort of his home. Fluff here didn't just have the habit of leaving his room whenever Micah came by, he didn't like bad weather. The last time there was bad weather, Fluff ran over to the latter and bahed the whole time. By the time Micah finally noticed the sound poor little Fluff was drenched and frightened. The small creature was so scared he didn't want to go back to the shed until the weather calmed down.

The other reason was that he didn't exactly feel comfortable inside his home during this type of sever weather. Perhaps it was just paranoia following him around like a doppelgänger, but living in a tree that could easily catch on fire with a single strike of lighting didn't sound like a safe move. At times like these he wonders just way he agreed to live in a gigantic tree that could be caught on fire with even the weakest strike of lighting. It also made him wonder just how the tree managed to last so long without being damaged. Some things may forever be a mystery, like where he came from or his family.

Micah just continued to watch the falling rain as he tried to keep the small animal calm and safe. He ended up placing Fluff into his lap and continued to pet the back of his head while saying, "It is okay little guy." The voice he used was one you would use on a just as scared child. Micah had originally pondered just why the small monster was so attached to him. After awhile though he noticed that all of his woolies seemed to be more affectionate towards him compared to the other monsters. In the end he came to the conclusion that they just somehow sensed that he was half wooly and felt comfortable around him. Or they just liked kissing up to him in hope that they would get extra food and petting time. It was more than likely the second option.

As he continued to watch the rain he noted that it seemed to be gaining strength which caused him to sigh, "I was hoping that this was going to pass, guess I was wrong," he mumbled as he continued to watch the outside world. It's too bad he didn't have a book to read, _"Maybe I should take a nap?"_ he thought to himself simply while stretching his back a little bit.

Not long after that comment though did he notice something moving around his field. For a moment he thought he was just seeing things since it was somewhat hard seeing through the rain falling and the heavy wind pushing it all around his field. Now this is rather odd, who goes out and walks around in this craptastic weather? Well, it is possible that someone could have been out before it started to rain. The rain only started a few minutes ago so it could be possible someone was out walking. Of course any normal person would have ran to the closest place for shelter instead of continuing forward.

"Hold on a minute, isn't it around five?" he spoke as bells with wooly faces went off in his head. He picked up Fluff from his lap and placed him next to him. This caused the little animal to turn its head cutely and went, "Bah?" with a sad, pleading look in his eyes.

He looked down at Fluff with a soft expression and patted his head while speaking, "I'm not going anywhere so don't worry little guy." For a moment Micah felt more like Fluffs father than his owner.

After he heard a little bah, Micah walked closer to the door while mumbling in an annoyed tone, "Jeez, what is she doing out in this weather? That idiot! Of all the times for her not to be lazy is during a storm. What type of irony or karma is this?"

Fluff walked up to where Micah was, as he looked hard to spot the figure in the rain and yelled as high as he could, "Hey! Get over to the monster shed!" he hoped she would hear him. The rain continued to fly around like a bird flying in utter darkness, but he couldn't really see much. He was silent for a moment but yelled even louder this time, "Come on! Hurry this way you-,"

The very moment he was about to say idiot he saw the very person he was expecting to see. A drenched figure, with clothes sticking to her body walked through the opened doorway and stopped right in front of him. The person mumbled in an annoyed tone, "I heard you the first time (I'm not an idiot either) Micah." It happened to be Karina, the queen of laziness who was soaked to the bone. Despite that fact, she still had the same lazy, I don't care, expression on her face as if she wasn't caught in a storm.

"Karina!" he yelled at her while grabbing her shoulders. He could feel the water that was absorbed in her mini jacket thing. He then jerked her body closer to his which made her look directly into his eyes, "What where you doing out there?! It's dangerous to be outside in this weather! You could have gotten hurt while walking around out there!" his voice was a mixture of anger and concern, a tone he didn't use that much. His eyes though told of something different; they held not only concern but also a little bit of fear.

"It started after I left the house and I didn't feel like going back," she said plainly. When she started to speak again her voice had a softer tone to it, "I didn't think it would get this bad so fast. I'm sorry that I made you worry (I never thought he would act so concerned)" was all she said before she started to blush a bit, "Thanks for worrying about me Micah. That's really nice of you."

Micah couldn't help but emit a sigh, this was so like her. She might be the only person who wouldn't go back home after it started to rain. He moved his hands down from her shoulders to about her elbows, "Well, next time it starts to rain you should stay at home. I don't want you getting sick just because you have to pick up my products. It would make me feel guilty," it was right about now he noticed her blush, "And of course I'll worry so you're welcome," he added in with a sweet smile.

"Um Micah?" she began as she eyed where he placed his hands, "Why are you still holding onto me? (It's nice but is kind of strange.)"

"Oh yeah, I'm sorry," he said quickly while pulling away his hands with a small blush. He turned his body side wades so he wasn't looking at her face. It was just something about the feel of her body against his he liked. That feeling made him feel happy; he wasn't thinking when he did it. It was like his body was moving on its own accord.

A strange awkward silence soon enveloped the room. Both of the young people where at a lost of words, or where just a bit embarrassed. Little Fluff just looked at the two and let out a little, "Bah?" That sound snapped the two out of their trance with Micah being the first to speak, "Oh yeah, your clothes are completely soaked. I think you should dry off. I don't want you to get sick," with that he walked over to where the towel was hanging. Who knew this would come in handy for something else?

He pulled the towel off and looked at it for a moment. He breathed in and out slowly while words ran wildly threw out of his mind. He turned around to see Karina standing behind him with the usual bland expression. She was no longer wearing that small jacket and now her shoulders where bare. He couldn't help but blush a little after getting a good look at her almost bare upper body while handing the towel over to her.

"Thanks," she spoke as she grabbed the towel with her free hand. With the other one she handed her jacket over to him, "Could you put this up there?"

"Sure," he said simply and grabbed the soggy piece of cloth. He turned his back to her and then placed the piece of cloth on the clothing line. It would be better if he had clothespins, but oh well. He never intended to use it for clothes.

"Could you put this up there too?" he heard her say. When he turned around he saw she placed the towel on her left shoulder while her orange scarf was in her right hand. He moved his hand out, grabbed it, and placed it on the wire. While doing this he thought, _"It's like we're doing laundry, just in a place where you wouldn't do it."_

"And this too?" she said again in the same pitch. Micah began to wonder how much of her clothes she was going to remove. He was hoping she wasn't going to take off too much. If she did it would make the whole scenario even more awkward. Though it would probably make him more embarrassed than her. This time she handed him her odd-looking headpiece and it went on the wire. Of course the odd thing fell off, instead of picking it up he left it be, it wasn't like he had anywhere else to put it. That, and she didn't say anything about it, so he thought it would be fine.

"Also this," and with that he sighed. It was a good thing he picked the heavy-duty wire and not some thin and cheap thing. This time when he turned around she handed him her oddly looking skirt. He looked at the skirt and it seemed that his brain wasn't registering just what it was. After a moment though it clicked and then his face erupted into a bright shade of red and if it was possible his eyes would have jumped out of his head.

"W-why did you take off your skirt?!" he yelled to her. He finally got a good look at her and what she as wearing. The only thing she had on now besides her gloves, strange sandals and shorts, was the piece of clothing covering her chest. Just looking at her made his face somehow go even redder.

"'Cause I have shorts on and my skirt is wet (you said to dry off, why wouldn't I take off most of my clothes?) and I don't want to wear it. It's too soggy," she explained in a completely calm voice, not showing a bit of embarrassment. It was as if her being almost naked in front of him wasn't anything special or out of the ordinary.

"I can see that but," he tried to look away but his eyes kept going back, staring at her exposed skin, "Isn't it kind of embarrassing?" Right now it seemed like he was more embarrassed than her. He just felt awkward being in a situation like this. Just how she seemed to be completely unfazed by all of this amazed him. It also didn't help that his pulse rate was surely too high for his own good.

"No. It's not like you haven't seen me in my bathing suite, you seen about the same amount of skin. It doesn't bother me (and it's you after all. I don't mind if you're the one who sees me)" she spoke. Towards the end of her sentence a blush yet again appeared on her face, which caused her to direct her head downward a bit. She knew he didn't hear what she mumbled, but that didn't make it not embarrassing.

A sigh of defeat escaped his lips. She did have a point; he has seen a lot of skin from her along with all of the other girls. It was still different, they weren't in public by the lake but alone together. He was still a little hesitant, but he ended up putting it up there with the rest of the clothes. He just stood there for a moment, just looking up at the wet clothes, watching as water dripped from them while pondering why the world puts him in these odd situations. A sigh escaped his lips as he thought, _"Sometimes I feel like the world loves to put me in these awkward situations. Does the universe have nothing better to do than screw with me?"_

When he finally turned around this time Karina had her back against the wall between two of the doors that held his monster friends. She had taken off her sandals and placed them to the right along with her gloves. Fluff was also there, just looking at her with curious eyes, watching her dry her silvery light blue hair off. Micah had thought he wouldn't be sociable among other humans. Guess he was off about that.

"Bah? Bah bah!" went the little guy. Karina gave him a smile while continuing drying herself off with the towel.

_"Well, this is going to be interesting,"_ Micah thought to himself as he walked over to where the two where. Fluff looked up at him and went, "Bah!" and cutely walked up to him. He looked up at Micah, turned his head and went, "Bah?" It seemed like he was asking just what was going on and who the visitor was.

"Come on," he spoke gently as he bent down and picked up the small animal like creature and went to sit down next to Karina who placed the towel on her lap. The open space between her and the left door was small, so their bodies where mere centimeters apart. He felt a little uncomfortable being this close to her but proceeded onwards. Micah then placed Fluff on his lap and tuned his head over to Karina, "Why don't you pet him? He's a little shy, but he's a good monster. That, and he is really fluffy."

She looked down at the small creature and stared at it for a moment, as if debating if it was safe to touch him. Soon though she started to pet his fluffy head. This caused the small creature to emit a happy little, "Bah!"

"He's so soft (his fur would make a good pillow)" she said with a small smile on her face. Fluff gave off another bah as she continued to pet his head gently. After a few moments he hoped from Micah's lap to hers as if to declare, "I like her petting skills better! You fail Micah! You need to learn how to pet monsters better!"

"I guess he really likes you," he said with a small laugh. Fluffy apparently adjusted to her and decided she was giving him more attention than him, "I feel like I've just been replaced," he said jokingly. It was kind of funny how quickly Fluff adjusted to her, he had thought he would be frightened to death if any other human came into his home. Though, he here is, being friendly with a complete stranger.

After he said that Fluff turned is face over to him and bahed as if to say, "No!" It seemed like the little creature knew just what he said or assumed. It's highly unlikely he could read lips, unless he was some sort of alien monster. If he were though, would be it be possible that his fur would be worth more money?

"So what's his name?" she asked as she continued to pet the small monster. The animal seemed just so fragile and weak in her arms. It made it hard to believe that such an innocent looking creature could go and attack people just passing by. She couldn't help but wonder why being inside this building made the wooly so much calmer, and much less frightening. Well, as frightening as a wooly could be that is.

"Fluff. It was the only thing I could think of," he replied with a small chuckle. Giving names to his monster companions has always been troublesome for him. He eventually started to give up on naming them something more interesting than the obvious physical trait. When he did come up with the usual type of names they where always so just bland and typical.

"That's not really original. You just looked at him and came up with it," she responded to him in a rather deadpan voice. Fluff just seemed like something typical, he could have been able to come up with something more interesting.

"Well, you try to come up with a better name," he responded in a playful tone. Knowing how she is, she would give up in a mere moment. No matter what it was, she also seemed like she had no interesting or will towards anything.

"Good point. It seems like pain," she replied while continuing to pet the little creature. To her, almost everything in the world seemed like a pain, even coming up with a name seemed far to complicated for her.

"Is there anything you don't think is a pain?" he asked with a curious tone in his voice. She was the type of person who would complain about a lot of things if she deemed it a pain. How she managed to get anything done often surprised him, but whenever she did he would always smile brightly while cheering her on.

"Anything that I don't think is a pain," she mumbled to herself while continuing to pet Fluff. The little monster just looked up at her as if he too was curious about her answer, "Well, talking to you isn't a pain."

"I see," he said while watching her movements, "Though that isn't surprising. If you thought it was a pain, we wouldn't talk as much as we do." The two happened to spend a lot time together, be it him hanging around the general store or her around the farm. All they did was really talk about things going around the town, but every once in a awhile they would go and walk around the places around the small town. The two had managed to forge a strong bond over the past year and a half he has lived here.

"That's true. I guess coming to pick up your stuff isn't much of a pain anymore," she said lowly as if she didn't want to say it in the first place but it came out anyway. It was rather embarrassing to say to his face since for the longest time she would often say how she hated being forced to carry his items back to her home. That, and how she would ask him to cut down on the items to make it easier for her.

This caused a surprised look to appear on his face for he didn't expect that to come out of her mouth. He originally thought that she hated picking his stuff up because her mother forced it on her, "What's with this sudden change in heart? Didn't you say that you hated coming by to pick my stuff up?"

"That's because…I get to see you" she said in more a whisper than anything else with a good shade of red coloring her checks. She had stopped petting Fluff at that moment, along with moving her face downwards. Micah just looked at her with a curious face that looked like it belonged on Fluff.

"I didn't quite hear that," he spoke simply. His brain was telling him to just leave it be, but he decided to be a little mean and poke fun at her. Every once in a while he had the right to kid around and tease someone. After all, people do it to him all of the time, so doing it to someone else sounds fun. He had a feeling he did hear what she said correctly, but he wanted to be a little mischievous, "Did you say something embarrassing?" Now his tone was becoming much more playful compared to his usual calm and caring tone. He also bore a rather impish grin on his face.

She remained silent and turned her head away from him, and this caused him to laugh a bit. He loved it when she was like this, getting her embarrassed always ended in the silent treatment with a nice shade of red crossing over her face. This always made her look absolutely adorable to him, "I take that as a yes? Come on you can tell me, it's not something to get worked up about."

"It is for a girl (why can't you be more considerate?!) when it comes to certain things," she said with a hint, a small hint, of annoyance in her voice. She wasn't usually the type to show that something was bothering, but every once in a while little hints would seep through her voice.

"Well I'm a guy so you have to explain to me why it's embarrassing to say you don't find it a pain coming over here because you get to see me?" he said in a taunting tone of voice. Fluff just looked at him wondering what this whole scene was about. All he noticed was that his new friend seemed a little uncomfortable and tensed up a bit.

Karina turned her head back over to him with her blush looking even brighter and mumbled, "So you did hear me Micah (why did you act as if you didn't hear anything you jerk?!). Is it fun teasing me?" Now this was just mean of him, teasing her like this. She knew he was just playing around, but still it wasn't good for her psyche.

Micah just let out a chuckle and responded happily, "Yeah, teasing people is fun. Now I know why people do it to me all of the time. In your case, teasing you just makes you cuter." It is true; people can be cute depending on the way they act. Depending on the person, the more embarrassed they are, the cuter they can be. It was like there was an invisible cute meter, the higher it went; the more he thought that person was cute.

She was quiet for a moment, as if she wasn't sure what to say. Micah just looked at her and chuckled a bit, "No comment? I thought girls liked to be complemented and liked to be called cute?" This was at least what he thought was true, for when ever he complemented any of the other girls, they would say thank you.

"Well that's true it's just (you never called me cute before) embarrassing," she said lightly as if she only wanted Fluff to hear her. Of course the little critter didn't exactly know what was going on between them, but was starting to feel kind of neglected.

"It is? I get called cute all the time and I always say thanks, I don't think it's something to be embarrassed about," he responded while not understanding why she was acting like this. He's called cute by a lot of the girls, travelers, and even some guys. He would always respond in a polite manner, for he knew people where just trying to be friendly.

"It's different for me (it's coming from the guy I like) so I guess you wouldn't understand. Though you did say it made me cuter. So does that mean I already look cute to you?" she asked with a bit of hope seeping through her words. A tiny part of her was hoping that maybe he might feel the same way she does towards him. During this little Fluff was starting to get bored with being ignored and looked like he was about to fall asleep. To him, random human talk was boring unless it involved him in some way, getting petted the whole time, or getting some yummy food.

"Huh?" he said as his face gained some color from her comment. He wasn't expecting her to say that at all, "Well yeah, I think you're cute, especially when you're asleep," he began while scratching his face and his eyes wandering to the other side of the room. He wasn't supposed to say that out loud it just kind of slipped out since he really wasn't thinking. He returned his gaze back to her and continued, "When you're asleep you look just so happy and tranquil. I don't know why it just makes me smile. I always feel like petting you for some reason."

"I see," was her response while moving her head downwards again to look at Fluff who looked like he was now asleep. She moved her head back up to look at Micah and responded with a beaming smile, eyes filled with joy, "That makes me really happy." So maybe she did have a chance with him after all.

He just looked at her, his face starting to heat up even more. The look on her face made his heart beat faster; he just didn't know what to say right now. Should he say something? It was better than just staring at her like a complete fool, "Well, um, ah," unfortunately for him he ended up sounding like a fool. He just wasn't good at stuff like this. At times like this all of his wit would just fly out the window.

"Now whose the embarrassed one (Aww, you look so adorable) Micah?" she retorted to him with a small chuckle. She appeared to be completely enjoying this, for now he knew how it felt to be teased like this. Though it was nice being able to play around like this.

He turned away from her, "Well I can't help that when you go act adorable you make my heart race," he mumbled. When it comes to this fluffy stuff, he just ended up being at a loss for words. It was probably due to how inexperienced he was when it came to romance, along with being a little self-conscious. It was a little hard to be straightforward when he was worried about being shot down due to being a half-monster and all. Even if people accepted him for whom he was, he couldn't help but hold a twinge of doubt inside his mind.

Soon the only thing he heard was the sound of rain failing on the roof, and the power of the wind attacking the shed with all of its might. When he turned his head back over to his companion, she was just looking at him as if she didn't know what to say. This strange exchange of looks continued onwards for a short time before Micah finally spoke up, "What's the matter? Did what I say sound strange?" He hoped she didn't become uncomfortable from what he said and silently cursed himself.

She continued to look at him, as if she was busy sorting through her thoughts to find the best thing to say. What he just said caught her off guard and surprised her. It took a few more moments before she spoke, her words filled with a mix of courage and hesitation, "Micah, do you have…(feelings for me?)" she couldn't say that out loud. A part of her just couldn't go along with it out of fear of being incorrect.

"Do I have what?" he asked while turning his head slightly in a cute fashion, not sure what she was getting at. This was one of the things he never understood about her. She sometimes would say one thing, but it seemed to be missing a piece of the sentence. She would sometimes mumbled the other part of the sentence under her breath, but other times she would just leave it hanging.

"Do you have feelings for anyone (hopefully me, oh please) Micah?" she asked a bit timidly, but didn't look away from him this time. She was afraid to go straight out and ask about herself, but she wanted to know one way or another.

"Wh-where did that come from!?" asked Micah in a surprised and unsteady tone. He wasn't expecting anything like that from her. His face broke out in a bright red color yet again while his breath was caught in his throat. Of all people who had to be asking this to him, why did it have to be her? Was the world laughing at his situation right now?

Karina might have not spoken a word, but the look on her face was enough to show she was disappointed. It seemed as if he was afraid to tell her if he liked anyone in the village. Perhaps he was embarrassed to tell or just didn't want to say a word.

Micah noticed this expression and sighed inwards, he hated that look on her face. She wasn't meant to look like this, he didn't want to see such a look because he was being uncertain of himself. He was a man, wasn't he? He might as well act like one, even if he felt a tinge of fright in his bones. He took in some oxygen and began, "Well, yeah. I do like someone, but I've just been kind of hesitant to say anything." He was afraid he would be shot down just because of what he is. Sure people said they didn't care what he was, but he was still afraid deep down.

"Why is that?" she asked while watching him closely. She wasn't sure who he was talking about, but something told her he was referring to her. She didn't know why she was sure about it, but it just seemed right, "I mean, I'm sure she would be thrilled to hear you say that (especially me, I would love to hear it) Micah."

"Well, I guess it's because of what I am," he began while a solemn tone took over his voice. He always tried to hide this fear he had buried inside his heart. The fear that the person he loves would crush his very being just because he isn't entirely human. People are always fickle like that; they might have no problem being friendly with people of other races but they won't want to be romantically involved. He couldn't help but feel hesitant every time he tried to express his true feelings because of this fear, "I mean, I might be rejected because of my blood. I mean, I've tried to tell her before, but I always end up changing the subject or shutting up over it."

Karina just stared at him, surprised at all of this. He never hinted that his heritage ever bothered him when he dealt with others. All this time he felt afraid of being rejected by this person just because he's half wooly. Who would have thought that cute, happy, and always full of energy and kind of Micah felt this away? She moved her left hand over take hold of his right hand and spoke, "It's alright Micah. I'm sure that she (I know it doesn't faze me) would still love you despite being half wooly."

He just gave her a wide smile while saying, "I'm sure you're right. I guess I was just getting worked up over nothing," and with that he squeezed her hand happily. The feelings behind her words where just so genuine, so true. Perhaps this whole time he was just being a coward, afraid of change. Afraid of changing the things he had become accustomed to.

"I'm sure you where (come on, tell me who it is!) Micah," she replied in a soft tone. This whole time she has been waiting patiently, while trying not to get her hopes up. A part of her thinks it's her, but it would be nice if he just got to the point and actually said something.

After that, the two of them just stayed like that, enjoying each other's company. It was just a strange silence as they watched the rain continue to pour down from the skies. Micah wasn't sure what to say at that point. Sure, his heart wanted to speak its mind for a change, but he stayed silent. He was still trying to make sense of this situation he was found himself in. He wasn't expecting her to show up in this rain, he certainly wasn't expecting for her to take off almost all of her clothes, and he was more than not ready to state his feelings. All of this was sprung upon him thanks to this weather, but he was silently thanking it. If it weren't for this, he wouldn't have reassured that being half monster wasn't a problem. He was still a bit of a coward when it came to this stuff, but he had to try. If he can venture and fight a bunch of life threatening monsters, and nearly escape death multiple times, he can say those three simple words. Saying them won't kill him after all, monsters have tried multiple times and they couldn't bring him down, so how could words destroy him?

He turned his head to face her, his blue eyes filled with passion while wavering just a little bit, "I love you," and he finally managed to say it. Even though his heart was pounding in his chest, even though his breath didn't want to corporate and he was still a bit afraid he said it. He tightened the grip on her hand and spoke again, with some fear still lingering in his voice, "I really love you. I love how you look when you sleep. I love it when you get embarrassed. Even though you're extremely lazy and have little determination, I still love you. I think because you're like that I love you even more. I've been wanting to say this to you for such a long time, but I just couldn't because I was afraid. I was afraid of being rejected, but now I can say it again and again. I love you with all of my heart Karina!" and with that he stopped. His face was flushed; his breathing was erratic, his heart was pounding, but he did it finally.

He wanted to hear a reply, but he heard nothing. They just sat there in the worst kind of awkward silence there is in the whole entire world. After all that, was she just going to reject him in the end? Were all of his efforts going to be in vain? Was everything they just talked about meaningless? He was afraid, afraid that everything was going to go the way he imagined in his mind. She might accept him for who he is, but does she not care for him in that way? His mind was racing as he felt a sinking feeling bulge up inside his stomach. The grip he had on her hand lightened with his fear.

After who know how long the silence broke with a, "I love you too Micah (he actually said it! Yes!) I love how sweet and caring you are. I love how you think of others all the time over yourself. I love how you still love me even though I'm lazy. I love everything about you, and I don't care that you're half monster," and with that her grip on his hand tightened. After all this time she finally heard the words she's been longing for. She couldn't remember how long she was waiting for them anymore. She was just so exited right now, that she finally was able to know he felt the same way.

The sinking feeling he felt had vanished and transformed into bliss. He tried calming himself down, but his heart rate didn't agree with him at all. He just chuckled to himself while squeezing her hand again with newfound strength. He then began to speak again in a chipper and relived tone, "Okay, that wasn't that hard. Ha, I guess I was just getting worked up for nothing. Ha, ha, I finally said it. I guess I'm not that much of a coward now. I finally told you I love you, and now that makes us a couple, right?" He had never done anything like this in his whole life, or at least he didn't think he had. He doesn't know what it's like to go out with anyone, but it shouldn't be anything to be afraid of. It couldn't be as hard as fighting monsters ten times your size, right?

"Yeah, it does (out of everyone he picked me) so that means you'll be over more right?" she asked in a happier tone than she usually uses. He'll be by her side even more now, and she'll be able to express her feelings towards him. It was nice, knowing that out of all of the girls, he picked her. She wasn't anything all that special, just some lazy general store owner's daughter who could barely remember what her father looks like. A girl who lost interest in the world after her mother had to focus everything on the store after her father left them for God knows where and God knows who. She didn't have any passions, she didn't care about anything really, she was just some mundane person who had no interest in the world. Even so, he had chosen her to stay by, chose her to love with all his heart. They where so different, but he wanted to be with her. He gave her a reason to have a passion about something in this world.

"Of course, I'll be with you as much as possible!" he stated in an extremely happy tone, with a new found sparkle in his blue eyes, "I mean, when I'm not out exploring or forging and what not, I'll stay by your side!" His voice was filled with passion. He didn't have to be alone anymore; he had someone to spend his time with now. Who knew that the weather could have helped him get into this position?

"Just be extra careful when you're out, alright? I don't want you getting hurt (or even worse dyeing) out there," she responded in a strong tone for her. She has always worried about him being out there, but now it'll be even worse on her psyche.

"You don't have to worry, I always take of myself!" after that he beamed her a bright smile. Then something dawned on him, "What is your mom going to think about this? I know Raven and Sofia are going to tease us, well, mostly you, but what about Hazel?" If memory serves him right, her best friends are defiantly going to be bugging her about this. They have been saying things on and off about them, but now that it's official what's going to happen?

"Mom? She's going to be on board about this (how have you not notice that she loves insinuating things about us?) so there isn't anything to worry about Micah," she replied simply while pondering just how he never noticed her mother's antics. Perhaps he was just the overly oblivious type? That's alright though, it just makes him even cuter.

"That's good, I wonder what she is going to say?" he asked aloud while wondering about it. A fraction of him was a bit afraid that she wouldn't approve of the relationship, but he was just worrying too much. Karina did just say she would be fine with it, so there isn't anything to worry about.

"She's going to be ecstatic (she'll probably go on about how she may end up being a grandmother after all) all the while cheering us on," her mother could be at times rather strange. He probably never noticed her implications, but as soon as he was gone Hazel was busy saying all cert of things to her. Well, in the end she was right that they would hook up eventually.

"That's nice," he responded while pulling his hand away from hers and reaching over to her lap. He took note that the small little critter in her lap was sound asleep due to boredom and picked him up. He then placed him down next to him and proceed to walk in front of her so he could be facing her directly and sat down. Karina wasn't exactly sure what he was up to, so she eyed him with curious eyes. He just let out a small laugh, and then extended his body out towards her and embraced her in a powerful hug. He drew her towards him as much as possible while saying into her ear, "I really do love you. I love you so much." A usually, his words were filled with the strongest passion in the world. He was an extremely passionate person after all, so it only seemed accurate.

"I love you too (I have for such a long time)" she responded in a sweet tone while rubbing her head against his like some sort of cat. She moved her hands up around his back and enjoyed his body being against her. After a few moments Micah jumped back away from her, his face all red. It was like the number of times his face turned red kept on going up that day.

"What's the matter Micah?" she asked him while turning her head in a cute manner. Something had to make him get all and hot and bothered again.

He looked away from her, his face still red, "Well, it was kind of weird hugging you without most of your clothes on. I wasn't expecting this moment to go like this and," he turned his head towards the door. For all he knew Hazel could show up out of nowhere and question what he was doing to her daughter. He actually had a dream once where he was being extremely fluffy with her and Hazel popped out of nowhere. Well, at that moment it turned into a nightmare for she beat the living crap out of him. He knew she would never do such a thing to him, hopefully anyway. It was just his mind being paranoid from all of his worries and thoughts about his half human half monster statues.

"And?" she asked while laughing a bit at his actions. He was absolutely adorable when he got embarrassed like this. She felt like going up to him and squeezing him tightly as if he was some sort of stuff toy.

"Ne-never mind, it's just me jumping to conclusions again," and with that he walked back to where he was sitting before. Now though his shoulders where touching hers as he looked down at the small wooly. He looked so peaceful in his sleep.

"Alright (you can be so strange at times) then," and with that she nuzzled herself closer to him and placed her head against him. She moved her arms around so they could latch onto his as she made herself comfortable. She can finally do what she's been wanting to do for such a long time. She can finally use him as a pillow!

Micah looked down at her and noticed that she had already closed her eyes and seemed so happy curled up next to him. It was like she turned into a cat and he was her heater. He ended up laughing to himself lowly because this seemed like something she would definitely do. He proceeded to move his left arm over so he could ruffle her soft wet hair. For a moment he couldn't help but think she was going to start purring like a cat. It be funny actually, if she did turn into a cat she would fit in perfectly with all the other felines of the world.

And so this was how the rest of their day went. They had just curled up together as if they were a bunch of furry critters. Micah of course hadn't fallen asleep until long after her. After all, Karina could be out in a matter of minutes, but while being against Micah all the while he was petting her she was out almost instantly. He had just continued to pet her soft hair while enjoying their new statues. It was nice, really nice to be able to feel the warmth of another person against his body. His hand had eventually started to get tired, so he decided to let it rest. After that he decided that he might as well go asleep as well. It wasn't like he would be able to escape her grasp of him anyway. Though before he drifted off into sleep he thought to himself, _"Well, I didn't see it happening quite like this. Oh well, but it would have been nice if she had more clothes on. It just makes things more embarrassing for me."_

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**Yes, I finally finished it! Yahoo! I finally managed to get this down after all this time. I have to say, good job me! Anyhow, I think is a little too sappy, but it was cute in my mind. That, and Micah being a little self-conscious just seemed like it would fit his character, and it made him adorable. Anyhow, I hoped you enjoyed this overly due story and please review!**


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